Healing Hands
by Pie for President '16
Summary: When something horrific happens to Monica, Chandler is there to comfort her.


This will be a slightly dark _**FRIENDS** _fanfic. It will deal with the issue of rape and the aftermath of that experience. I've never written such a storyline that actually deals with it and is actually thought through. I understand **_FRIENDS_** was a sitcom and rape would never be mixed with humor, but this is a scary fact. Plus, SVU takes place in New York, the same city **_FRIENDS_ **took place in, so... :) Flamers will be mocked and the flames themselves will make for nice s'mores. Om nom.

There will be a _slow_ Mondler development. This begins in 1989, so Chandler is a junior in college and Monica is in her second year of culinary school.

* * *

It was a stormy November night and the dormitory was empty, with the exception of a select few who decided not to go home for Thanksgiving. Chandler Bing was one of them and, unlike the two years previously, he decided not to go to the Gellers' on this day. For starters, Ross was engaged to Carol and it was more appropriate for her to go over to Ross' parents rather than him. Second of all, he absolutely _hated_ Thanksgiving for so many reasons. He did not want to be a downer at the Gellers' and that brought him to the third reason he didn't go. He was almost positively certain that Jack and Judy hated him, even though Ross denied it.

Right now, the twenty year old flicked through each of the cable channels available, but there was nothing to watch so far. ABC had Charlie Brown on, NBC had syndicated Thanksgiving specials. CBS was showing football and Chandler didn't feel like watching any football tonight.

_Wish I'd gone out to get some movies_. Chandler thought grumpily, shutting off the TV and throwing the clunky remote on the floor, where the battery cover popped off. He stood and went to the refrigerator, opening it and seeing what was available to drink and only found an empty carton of orange juice.

_Stupid Ross. Wait, that might have been me. Whatever._ Chandler threw the carton in the garbage and began to change into his pajamas when there was a pounding on the door. He jumped, startled, and slowly walked over to it. He looked in the peep-hole and saw Monica, soaking wet with mascara running down her face and her top looked as if it'd been torn.

He hurriedly opened the door and stepped aside to let Monica in.

_Why is she here? She hates me!_ Chandler thought as Monica stepped inside and he shut the door behind her.

"I- I had nowhere else to go. I couldn't go home, my parents are there. Ross and Carol went out for the night and- and-" Monica sobbed, collapsing on Ross' vacant bed.

"Monica?" Chandler said quietly, taking a seat on his bed.

"I don't know why I'm telling you this, you hate me and I'm not so crazy about you."

"That doesn't matter right now, Monica. What happened?"

"I went out with Rachel and a couple of her friends after dinner. We went to a club first and met up with this guy, who invited us to his house. I lost track of Rachel and- and-"

_This doesn't sound good._ Chandler thought, uneasiness settling in the pit of his stomach.

Monica shook her head and wiped her eyes, smearing the mascara even more.

"I- I was raped and I don't know who it was. I had a drink and I think someone spiked it."

"Oh- Oh, my God." Chandler said; he was speechless. He never understood the men who had to act sexually dominant, and intimidate women; nobody should be raped. Especially not his best friend's little sister, no matter how much he disliked her.

"I don't want to go home and I didn't know where else to go. Can- can I stay with you, Chandler?"

"Of course." Chandler whispered, taking her hand but she cringed at the touch. He withdrew it and stood up, going over to his dresser drawer and pulling out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"Go take a shower and clean up."

Monica nodded, taking the clothes from Chandler, and stood.

"Th- thanks." She said quietly, not making eye contact and went into the bathroom. Chandler let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

When Monica came back out twenty minutes later, Chandler was laying wide awake in bed with the light still on. No matter how much he told himself that this couldn't be real, he knew it was. One of the worst crimes had happened to his best friend's sister and there was nothing he could do to fix it. He couldn't go back in time and prevent it from happening. No matter what he would say to Monica, nothing would make the fact go away. She had been damaged and he had no idea what was going to happen with her now. Where would Monica go next with her life, if she could recover from this? And Chandler was the only one who knew about it, what if she never told anyone else and he would be the only one who knew about it? He couldn't live with himself if he had to keep it a secret. It would be too hard.

"Chandler?"

"Ye- yeah?" Chandler blinked and looked over at Monica, who was now laying in Ross' bed with the blankets covering her whole body with the exception of her forehead and eyes. His heart broke all over again looking at her.

"I hope you can keep this to yourself until, you know, I'm ready to tell people. I- I'm just not ready to tell anyone yet, I don't know how to. I'm looking at you, Chandler, and I just see pity. That's just coming from you, and you don't even like me. Imagine what it would be like if I got that same look from my family and friends?"

"Monica, one of the worst things that could possibly happen to anyone happened to you. How am I not supposed to feel sorry for you? I would be just as bad as that bastard who did this to you, if I didn't feel any pity. We can keep this between us for now, but you're going to have to talk to someone. Bottling things up isn't good for you."

Monica scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"I don't need to be getting psyched out right now, and especially not by you." She snapped, and Chandler felt his heart crack open just slightly. Did she not realize how badly that comment hurt?

"I'm sorry, Chandler." Monica said a few minutes later. "I didn't mean it like that. I've been through enough tonight, can we deal with all that tomorrow? Right now, I just want to sleep."

Chandler nodded and switched the light off.

"Night, Monica."

"Night, Chandler."


End file.
